May 14, 2009

I became a graphic designer somewhat by accident. Back in 1997, my original business plan was to be a writer for art publications and organizations online. I landed an assignment almost immediately and wrote a piece called “Colors of a Woman’s Palette” for an online art venue. It was fabulous little essay about Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Käthie Kollwitz, and Berthe Morisot. The trouble was that I don’t think anyone read it. I remember being quite disappointed because after having turned in the piece I found the presentation of it poorly laid out and lacking in any visuals that would have complimented the content. Even back in ’97, I just knew that an online presentation had to be effective. Feeling badly for the little essay, I decided to create a website specifically for that article to see if the reception would fair any better. Once nicely dressed up Colors did gain a readership as did my newly created website.

Dragonfly is now celebrating its 10th year in business. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about design, running a business, and like any entrepreneur I work very hard. Most of my clients have been with Dragonfly for years... some have been with me since I first opened my doors. Much of my work comes to me from word of mouth. I’m proud of this and believe it speaks to the quality of what I do and the sincerity of my customer support.

I spend a good amount of time looking at design. I can’t help it. I see it everywhere... on the road signs, in the grocery store, magazines, mail flyers, tooth paste tubes and wine bottles. And because I love design I go and seek it out... I read design magazines, books, and take tutorials and attend lectures to sharpen my skill set. Design for me is not a job, it’s my lifestyle.

Despite the recession/depression, DFB has been extremely fortunate and busy working for its established base of clientele and has even acquired some new clients. I worked hard to accomplish the work load but by the beginning of May, I felt like I hit a wall. A vacation was required... but I didn’t want a vacation from the design work. What I needed was a vacation from the business end of things.

The graphic design industry has been known as having an unusually high burn out rate. I’m not sure why that is and I hope to never find out. I’m pretty certain it has nothing to do with the actual design work. Almost on a daily basis I’m assaulted with new ideas and visions from my muse but rarely am I able to see these concepts come to fruition... I’m too busy returning emails and phone calls, going to meetings, providing customer support, and doing paperwork.

Let’s Consider Balance:

Yes, this is a term I’ve heard of before. Friends, family, associates, and fellow artists have spoken to the importance of balance. “Lisa, you need to find some balance.” I would generally respond, “Ummm... you mean balance in the composition right?” Not!

Ok, I will say to you, I SUCK at balance. I have always endeavored to make every client feel like my only client and sometimes I have been devastatingly successful at this. If a client emailed me at 7 am., I responded within a matter of minutes. Phone calls on Saturday evening during dinner... I took the call. My Blackberry would alert me to communications during my son’s school events, birthday gatherings, grocery shopping, evenings out with friends and during vacations. I ALWAYS responded to the client. God, I must be a total drag to hang out with on a personal level.

No doubt there are “red flag” clients. You can Google a thousand resources on how to best deal with this type of phenomena but I’m starting to wonder if as designers and consultants some of us just handle these folks badly. Are we not, after all, responsible for our own circumstances? There is absolutely no reason why a designer or any business person should respond to a client call or email at 7am. There must be a separation between life and work so that one can enjoy a day at the beach without a tide of emails following along via Blackberry. And there is no justifiable reason whereby a designer must be a clients “last minute gal” because that client consistently waits until the last day of deadline to call in a project.

I am always in awe of people who seem to accomplish so much during the course of their life. There are those professionals who design, teach, lecture, write books and blogs, travel, and are President of several design organizations. On Saturday you will find them passing out hotdogs at the little league game or planting a tree. I don’t know how they do it, but I’m thinking it’s because they are not responding to email 6 times a day 7 days a week. They have found balance and in doing so they are better equipped (mentally and physically) to pursue the things that are important to them and give them joy. They are also better prepared to meet the work week demands because they have made the time to devote to their own creative pursuits. Creative people, even those who work for others, need to find expression for their own creative ideas

I love graphic design but these days I’m much less of a designer than I am a business woman. This makes me sad. So, in addition to several other new office policies that I’m instituting, I have decided to hire a part-time assistant. Perhaps an Intern or college student who might help me out with some communications and production work. I’m thinking this might be the answer (I’m hoping) to enabling me to do more of the thing I love. Perhaps it will enable Dragonfly, now 10 years old, to develop into something larger.

If you are interested please email me at Dragonfly Blu. Send your resume and qualifications.

April 25, 2009

I get bored with one design. Because spring is definitely here, it was time to clean house both in the real world and in the virtual world. Welcome to the new design of ArtLOOK. Sidebar links have been cleaned up and redefined. All resources listed here have been checked to ensure they are still alive, up to date and providing the best in relevant information on the arts and design. I'm also adding tabs in the top navigation bar for ease of access to information needed with one click.

Live entertainment by Argentine Tango Dancers with Kana of New York; The Gypsy Nomads; Kikyo Genso by Global Sounds; and the soothing sounds of Russ Becker and Stephen Roane make this event a pleasure and a multi cultural feast for the senses.

Studio 80 + Sculpture Grounds is situated on 4.5 acres on the Lieutenant River in the historic district of Old Lyme, Connecticut. A center for the arts in Connecticut, and the birthplace of American Impressionism, Old Lyme is now also a center for abstract sculptural works from Studio 80.

Located next door to the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, where realistic figurative painting and sculpture are taught, Studio 80 + Sculpture Grounds embraces the other traditional fine art establishments within this town while stepping a bit “outside the box” to create and display abstract sculptural works inspired by nature.

We invite you to visit Studio 80 + Sculpture Grounds for this wonderful celebration on the shaded retreat of beautifully landscaped grounds and artistic inspiration. Complete with a loft exhibition gallery, the 3500 sq ft working studio is not to be missed.

Food by Coffee’s Country Market, wine by Chamard Vineyards and Divine Wines.

September 13, 2008

I'm happy to announce that I'll be working with the amazing artist and man, Balam Soto. I've written about Balam and his work before and I was thrilled when he and his wife, Shelli, phoned me to see about doing some art management and marketing work together.

Stay tuned for updates regarding Balam, his upcoming shows and his progress both on canvas and with his explorations using computers and technology to express an interactive art form. Stop by Balam's Blog and visit his website for samples of his work. Thank you Balam and Shelli... I'm really looking forward to working to you.

March 27, 2008

Hi All. It seems that whenever things get busy here at DFB the posts on ArtLOOK slow to a near halt. I'm sorry about that. Spring is the busiest time of year for not only the art business but for design as well. Despite the onslaught of work here at the studio, it was a priority to update and redesign my own design house.

Please meet the new Dragonfly Blu. DFB has a brand new ID and look. It is a bit more edgy and bold but also decidedly feminine and clean. New portfolios contain updates to recent work, photography, and the new Client and Designer Bill of Rights. Feedbacks from my recent email campaign has been great so thank you all for those comments and kind thoughts.

I've done some organizational work here at ArtLOOK as well. You will see that the blog has been divided into 3 columns. Recent posts and categories appear at the top of the page for easy reference. Websites, blogs and resources have been combined simply into Design Resources and Art Resources. Only the best resources appear here. Outdated or unmaintained sites and blogs will not appear in this list.

November 06, 2007

My friend, Eric Karjaluoto over at SmashLAB and ideasonideas wrote to me today announcing his new pet project MakeFive (honestly Eric... where do you find the time?) The site was launched yesterday and is based on a simple notion: share your opinions by ranking anything/everything and meet like minded individuals in the process.

After having browsed the new site I thought I'd post a little something here to give a bit of PR to the hard working folks at SmashLab but hmmm... how to I set a category for this post (or even multiple categories) without checking off everything from Art to Zebras? MakeFive has been created to accommodate nearly any subject you can imagine...including design related topics such as Most Influential designers of our time, Best design blogs, Best type families, Great books for entrepreneurs.

It can allow users to do so much:
- Learn about amazing new books
- Share their worst first-date experiences
- Opine on the most relevant news story of the year
- Document what things one wants to do before dying
- Find out about great restaurants they hadn't yet heard of

There is a lot of fun stuff here... one of my favorites is "What George W. Bush could do upon leaving office." My favorite answer : Take an English Class.

October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween All. Sorry for the long delay in posting. Things at the office and construction around the house has kept me away but... we're back on track and I look forward to being back among you. Meanwhile, enjoy some scary movies tonight and keep the candles burning.

September 18, 2007

I want to send a huge THANK YOU to all the designers who responded to my yelp for help in my recent post Tomorrow is Not Always an Option. You are an amazing group of people. Despite heavy deadlines, and grueling workloads many of you took the time to write me emails offering your hand and shoulder for support. The design industry is a competitive place but it's also filled with compassionate and caring people who demonstrate that they aren't above lending a hand to a fellow designer. Eric Karjaluoto of smashLAB wrote a very helpful comment and offered some great practical advice. Some like Veerle Pieters and Cat Morley of BODO even posted their own blogs with companion articles. Veerle wrote eloquently her thoughts about how "Deadlines Kill Inspiration" and Cat at BODO offered suggestions for dealing with the on slot of deadline madness in her post titled Business Choices: The Next Level. I'd also like to acknowledge the readers of Veerle's Blog and BODO who wrote insightful, and sometimes fun, comments on this topic. Thank you all.

September 10, 2007

Artists beware: Email scammers are slick! This is not something we didn't already know, right? However, I want to alert you to an email I received this morning in several of my art email accounts. This type of thing is quite common on the Internet but I want to alert those of you who might be unfamiliar so you don't get involved with this. The title of the email reads "ARTWORK WANTED". The message goes on to say:

Hello Seller,
Good Day.. My name is Ade jo. I saw your artwork in the list address and am very much interested in buying your (artwork) I will like to know the actual amount of the art and i will prefer to pay with a cashier cheque/money order. And about the shipping I know a good shipping company that I am using that can come for the picking up ,kindly get back now with the price and if you have the picture send it to my mail box to see.Are you a private seller?Do you accept chasier cheque/money order as my method of payment? I will want you to email me back with your website and last offering price.
Best Regards

This email has all the hallmarks of a scam. The email expresses interest in your artwork and requests jpg's of the work and your price for selling. The sender says he prefers to pay with a cashier cheque or money order...sounds pretty good, doesn't it? He also says that he knows a good shipping company.

Ok...here is how this works. The guy (or gal) sends you money via an international check but he/she overpays you. When you notify him that he has overpaid, he'll request that you send the overage fees to the shipper to cover costs. This, of course, you'll agree to do but not before you find out the international check they have sent you is bad. Now you've paid money from YOUR ACCOUNT to the shipper. TA DA... you've lost money, allowed a scammer to know your banking information and you might have lost the painting or piece of art as well.

July 28, 2007

Come to the Left Bank...Groton's Left Bank: Art On Groton Bank's second summer event was a success! With almost 50 artists participating and a fine showing of public support, artists enjoyed a lovely summer day at the Thames River bank. A good deal of artwork was sold and according to one participant "This is a wonderful event. I sometimes spend $400 to enter a show, and do nowhere near as well... plus there is no hassle here - and everyone is so nice."

Artists enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, French ambience and the ability to not only display art but also to work on the grounds if they so desired. Artist John W. Malenda says "I haven't done an outside show for about 10 years and I sold enough and made contacts to justify doing the remainder of the series. Please put me on the list for the August show."

A recent addition to the AOGB was the welcome presence of recent Lyme Academy College of Fine Art grad student, Adam Peiffer and friend Kelsey. "What a painter." says AOGB organizer Audrey Heard, "I'm so happy he sold some pieces and he's coming back."

Art on Groton Bank is a continuing festival of fine arts on the grounds of the Bill Memorial library. Upcoming events are August 18, and September 15 from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. Painters, sculptors, graphic artists and photographers are invited to work on the property or to exhibit. Families and art lovers are invited to come and make a day of it by exploring the grounds, picnic in a lovely setting, watch an artist at work or purchase a beautiful original piece of art. Sponsors include The City of Groton, The Bill Memorial Library, The Art Guide and Dragonfly Blu Design.

Select Sites I've Built

Nice Things People Say

"I believe the success of your INK article is your ability to listen, intellectually collaborate and to make difficult ideas understandable to the public."
- Gilbert Boro, Sculptor

"I am very impressed with the work Lisa has done for us in this short time. She has a light touch, very appealing and attractive, plus real style."
- Audrey Heard, Art On Groton Bank

"I was just handed the most incredible magazine article that I think has ever been written about me. It is just fantastic and people are presenting me with copies of the magazine. Really beautifully written, really beautifully written and no one has ever put all the pieces together as nicely as you have. Thank you so much."
- David Black

"Ok, Don't stand in a doorway when you read this as you
may become hopelessly lodged... Hang on to your head,
an ego boost attached...
I love it Lisa. Spot on nicely done,
access-able, significant and of a standard. I'm stoked,
can't thank you enough, very happy and impressed."
- Jeff Lilly : INK Publishing

"The Art and Design is written in a easy manner, centred on the design community, and points to discussions I can use...It’s my kind of blog as it keeps on giving."
- Designers Who Blog

"I enjoy your writing and will be checking back with ArtLOOK to keep up what you come up with next. I so envy those who can write well."
- Cat Wentworth

"I am glad you are a perfectionist-
You have given us a world-class site that will be an asset to The Guide as we move forward and expand."
- Matt Holmes, The Art Guide

"I found Lisa Mikulski to be just the right resource at the right time: focused, professional, with a great eye for color and design, and with very fast turnaround time for getting images up on the web -- an artist's best friend and there when you need her! She's got a really good command of the two worlds we as artists now inhabit: the technical issues of cyberspace in today's market, combined with bottom line issues of artistic judgement. I highly recommend her as a great resource for web design, artistic and gallery management."
- Julia Rogoff, Artist